Control
by Aqua X
Summary: Cinder has taken Beacon, the power of the Fall Maiden, soon enough all of Team RWBY, and control of every single Atlesian robot -including Penny. (This is not a great summary, but I think it's serviceable.)
1. Chapter 1

"Penny... please." Ruby said as she faded into unconsciousness, due to her aura being completely depleted as well as the damage her body sustained being too much for the young huntress.

Everything about this hurt Penny. She didn't want to do this, she regretted being a part of this. She couldn't believe everything that lead up to this. She knew that when she was made, she was made to be combat ready. But she was never meant to be used as a weapon... As the Vytal Festival went on, a woman after the power of the Fall Maiden, was secretly pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The seeds of her plan was actually planted well in advance and the marionette, Cinder Fall, was enjoying the sight of all who would oppose her being dealt with. The four girls, known as "Team RWBY," who momentarily derailed her plans were now all captured and detained. And Ozpin's inner circle (along with Winter Schnee) were already dealt with, thanks to her mole: James Ironwood. Had she not thought the girls could all prove to be useful, Cinder would have had each member of Team RWBY -with the exception of the fanus- killed.

With her target: her friend... incapacitated, Penny had to do one last thing before her mission can be completed: bring Ruby to Cinder. Penny's very minimal interactions with Cinder taught her something very important. Not only can she like humans, like Ruby, but she can also hate them. Penny and Cinder both knew that without her Crescent Rose: Ruby was helpless. Which is why Penny felt disgusted that Cinder would make her attack Ruby at such a disadvantaged state, after she had already narrowly evaded capture from Mercury. Even when she warned Ruby that she wasn't in control of her body, the red hooded girl refused to even try and fight back against her robotic friend. Having no choice, Penny quietly lifted the limp Ruby and placed her friend over her shoulder. The humane robot knew that Cinder had some, most likely, malicious things in store for the poor girl. Penny hated that she couldn't resist Cinder's control overriding commands. She hated that she was, quite literally, giving away her friend to someone as vile and deceptive as the woman who's been secretly instructing Ironwood. The same Ironwood that gave Cinder's commands priority over even her own. Because of this she has to do whatever Cinder says, there's no way around that for her. But Penny did have, very minimal, control over how she followed said orders. Because of this, Penny was able to subdue Ruby without using a single one of her blades. And now she was making the trip to Cinder's base be as slow as she possibly could. During this time, with Ruby on her shoulder, Penny was forced to take in many things she'd rather have gone unseen. The streets of Vale were crawling with White Fang and Atlesian Knight-200s corralling citizens into the back of several trucks and bullheads, the buildings all looked as if they were being ransacked, and there were many bodies on the ground, though Penny's optical scanners found their status as alive or deceased to be... inconclusive. Her scanners also noticed that a charcoal like material was present in Vale's atmosphere, though it was on no level harmful to any living organisms. This change in atmosphere did however make Vale look dreary and have an obnoxious smelling odor. Her next sight, which was also her destination, didn't need any scanners to tell her what was wrong. She was horrified by the sight of what was once called Beacon Academy. The school was now serving as a base made to destroy the very peace in the world that it was meant to help defend, with it's once green beacon now a villainous shade of red. Other than the altered beacon the school looked the same, saved for the lack of lively students running around and crowding the campus. The only ones who were outside the school now were more White Fang and the ever treacherous Emerald, who had a rude looking grin on her face.

"How goes the mission?" Emerald sarcastically asked.

"Nearing completion." Penny agitatedly replied, harboring ill thoughts towards her.

"The brat dead?" Emerald asked, now peering at Penny with an overly confident smile.

"No, I rendered her unconscious." Penny despondently said.

After the robot girl gave her an answer, Emerald decided to give Ruby a brief... examination. Emerald lifted the red hooded girl's head and felt the side of her neck to see if Ruby was still breathing. She already knew that the robot wouldn't have killed her dear friend, but she also knew that she outranked her. So Emerald was deliberately stalling the automaton just to remind it that it's her understudy. The part Emerald enjoyed most of this situation was that not only was she frustrating Penny, she also got to see a lack of the usual peppy/upbeat smile Ruby'd always seemed to have on her face. She did want to stall them further but knew that if she did, Cinder might get angry. With that thought in mind, Emerald retracted her hand and signaled for Penny to move on. Penny slowly walked down once student filled hallways, seeing a few familiar faces -namely Roman Torchwick- as she did so. But not long after was Penny inside the very area that was once being used in a desperate attempt to protect the former Fall Maiden, brought down by the elevator. The entire area below the school now served as Cinder's throne room, where she'd give orders and pass judgment. Though most of her figure was covered by shadows, Penny could see the glow emitting from Cinder's scroll. The same scroll that now acted like a remote for Penny, as well as allowed Cinder to watch what she's doing through Penny's robotic eyes.

"I've brought her as ordered." Penny gloomily said, raising her voice so as to be heard by the False Maiden.

"Excellent." Cinder softly said aloud.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

I started/finished writing this on the 13th, before watching (I think) episode 8. So if anything in episode 8 or 9 contradicts anything in my story, I don't really care and neither should you. I do genuinely think Ironwood's a mole though. I mean the moment he plugged his scroll into Ozpin's desk/computer, Cinder was in full control of the "random" tournament brackets and uncovered the files on Penny that only a member of the Atlesian Military would likely have. And as a coup de grâce, in season/volume 2 Roman had that huge mech suit that Ironwood went on to reveal it to the public. Plus he's constantly been undermining Ozpin's thoughts and procedures, what's a better way to out play Atlas, Vale, and Ozpin than by having someone with power that's supposedly on their side helping to bring them down?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes**

Here's Chapter 2, this'll be on hold while I write for another, non-RWBY, story. So I hope you enjoy this one.

* * *

"Set her down there." Cinder's voice instructed.

Penny quietly placed the still unconscious Ruby in a chair positioned in front of Cinder's throne. As she did so, Penny made sure that Ruby wouldn't fall out of her seat. Once she ensured her hooded friend was securely in her chair she began to walk away, only for her entire body to stop dead in her tracks upon Cinder's order.

"And give me her hood." Cinder ordered.

Not having any choice, the robot girl slowly removed Ruby's beloved hood. Penny had had enough of this "mission" and simply tossed the red hood towards Cinder. Cinder's hand reached out of the shadows and caught the hood.

"That will be all, initiate sleep mode." Cinder enthusiastically said.

Upon hearing Cinder's order, Penny was forced to shutdown.

After another fifteen minutes or so, Ruby finally began to move.

"Good, you're awake." Cinder casually said.

"Huh?" Ruby sheepishly said.

"You!" Ruby exclaimed as she recognized the woman looking down on her, standing with a clenched fist as she spoke.

"Sit down you wouldn't like anything to happen to this now, would you?" Cinder asked as she showed the young huntress her hood.

Upon seeing her hood, Ruby found herself frozen in place. Her hood is precious to her, it's as if it were a part of her. But now it's in the hand of her enemy.

"Sit down. And don't worry I'll give it back, once you've earned it." Cinder calmly said.

"I won't listen to you, even if it means I'll never get my hood back!" Ruby shouted as she placed her right foot on the chair she sat on and pointed with her right hand towards Cinder.

"And what about your robot friend?" Cinder, having expected her response, asked.

"You know I can have her sent after your other friends, and I doubt they'd be as passive as you were. Or I could just have her scrapped for parts." Cinder said with a cruel grin.

Already knowing Ruby's answer, Cinder couldn't help but think about how easily she enlisted the others. Weiss was the first to give in, wanting to protect Winter. The next was Yang, all Cinder had to do was threaten her little sister. The one who proved to be the most difficult to coerce was Blake, it took the lives of all three members of her team to 'enlist' her.

"And now..." Cinder thought to herself.

"You win." Ruby quietly uttered, she didn't want to be heard by anyone.

"If you promise you won't hurt her, or my friends, I'll do whatever you say." Ruby loudly said as she sat back down, her head down and tears escaping from her eyes.

Like Emerald, Cinder liked seeing Ruby like this: broken and submissive.

"Good girl." Cinder mockingly said to Ruby.

"Mercury, show her to her room." Cinder ordered.

Ruby turned her head and saw the young man who setup her sister step out of a dark corner of the room. Mercury had an amused look on his face, just like the others, brought upon by the defeated look on Ruby's face.

"Sure. After all, what are friends for right Ruby?" Mercury taunted.

Ruby didn't respond to his teasing, she figured if she even tried anything that Cinder might hurt Penny or her team.

"Come on." Mercury instructed as he began to walk towards the elevator.

Ruby quietly, as well as uneasily, obeyed. Once the cyborg and the rose arrived at elevator, they heard the sound of its gears turning and growing continuously louder at a steady pace. When the doors opened Ruby saw someone she had hoped she wouldn't see: Roman Torchwick.

"Red, is that you? What are you doing here?" Torchwick teased. His tone more childish as opposed to the mean ones his cohorts had, amplified by him squeezing Ruby's cheeks as if she were a four year old.

Torchwick's usual smirk slowly dissolved as he saw no reaction arise from the usually hooded girl. Usually hooded...

Roman removed his hand and shifted his focus to Mercury. Torchwick was actually curious as to where that hood she always wore was, but he could tell that Ruby wasn't in a very talkative mood.

"Hey steel-toes, where's Reds' cape?" Roman, looking puzzled, asked.

"She'll get it back when Cinder says she's earned it." Mercury dryly said.

"Ah so that's what it is, Red's the bosses newest recruit." Roman said with his grin returning to his face, along with a feint dose of enthusiasm.

"Don't you have something you need to be doing?" Mercury said in an vitriolic tone, unknowingly much to Ruby's relief.

Roman made a scowl as he stepped outside the elevator. Ruby actually felt something close to excitement, likely just more relief, as she and Mercury stepped past the doors.

"Well Red I'll see you later, enjoy working with Neo. And welcome to the team." Torchwick said to the little huntress before the doors closed. As usual, he wanted to get the final word in.

That name Torchwick said stuck with Ruby for the entire elevator ride back to the ground level floor of Beacon. It wasn't until they were outside of the main building that Ruby said something to Mercury.

"Who's Neo?" Ruby asked nervously.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Mercury said in a threatening voice.

Ruby wanted to ask where exactly "there" is. Cinder referred to it as "her room," but did that mean an actual room or perhaps a holding cell or even just a hole in the ground. Whatever her "room" was, Ruby hoped that they'd get there soon. She didn't like the feeling she was getting from walking around Beacon. She felt like a stranger in this school she's been attending almost two semesters. Despite how she felt, Ruby continued to follow Mercury down the imposing Beacon halls. Soon enough though, Mercury ceased walking.

"Get in." Mercury ordered as he opened the door on his left.

Ruby took a moment to actually look at what room this was, it was the schools storage room. Because he had very little patience for her, Mercury forcefully shoved Ruby through the doorway. Not expecting him to push her, Ruby fell forward. Without her aura, Ruby felt every bit of the pain of her knees slamming into the tiled floor.

"Hey Neo, got another one for you." Mercury called out as he closed the door behind him.

Ruby was having some trouble pushing herself back up, this just wasn't her day it seemed. Mercury was about to make Ruby get up when a blonde haired distraction showed up...

"Ruby?!" her sister, Yang Xiao Long, exclaimed as she quickly began darting across the room.

"Yang!" the downed huntress replied as she, again, tried to get up.

The two sisters were almost within arms reach of each other when Yang seemingly collapsed to the ground, letting out a pained grunt before she hit the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Although Mercury was enjoying watching Ruby and Yang lie on the floor in pain, he knew he should report back to Cinder for further orders. Besides, Neo could handle both of them when they had their weapons and both Weiss and Blake backing them up. _It wasn't like either could venture far in their current positions anyway._

But to play it safe, Mercury decided it'd be best he wait for Neo to show up before he leaves.

Much to the cyborgs relief he could see the petite assassin waltzing towards the sisters. With Neo in sight, Mercury exited the room. Letting out a single, rude, laugh as he saw Ruby and Yang still on the ground before closing the door.

"Yang?" Ruby said as she tried to reach for her downed sister, only for her to feel the unwelcoming sting of an umbrella swiftly smacked across her knuckles.

Shocked by the surprise attack Ruby turned her head to see the attacker, much to Ruby's dismay, it was the girl with pink, brown and white hair. Her hair reminded Ruby of neapolitan ice cream, which is all it took for her to understand that this girl currently standing over her was Neo. The same Neo that she, _according to Torchwick,_ is stuck working under to protect her friends. Neo disapprovingly waved her right pointer finger with what looked like a scroll in her left hand and the parasol that struck Ruby cradled within her armpit. Seeing her frustrated Ruby, _especially since she just like all the rest of them..._ had a conceded grin across her face. The look Neo gave Ruby and Yang as they remained on the floor was the last straw for Ruby, she knew she couldn't fight them (especially since she didn't have Crescent Rose) but she wasn't just going to silently take their mockery any longer. _Let alone from someone who actually is silently mocking them._

"Hey!" Ruby said as Yang began to stir, Ruby had every intent to give this girl a piece of her mind.

Ms. Roses outburst didn't make Neo's grin leave, but it did get her brow raised. She patiently waited for her new recruit to speak, Neo wanted to hear what she had to say. But, to both of the younger ladies surprise, Yang wrapped her hands around Ruby's mouth. The look Ruby saw in Yang's eyes wasn't one of fear, but her lilac eyes did have a pleading look. This look did not belong to the confident blonde who takes charge, the look Yang had was the one she had while she was in what Ruby deemed "Big Sister Mode."

That look of concern Yang gave her took the fire out of Ruby, and it was apparent to all three of the ladies in the room. So much so that Yang released Ruby, knowing that the little Rose would not act like a thorn in Neo's side anymore.

"My name is Ruby." The young huntress told Neo, not wanting to seem gutless or thrown off by Yang.

Neo's grin turned into a triumphant smile, causing some of Ruby's anger to reignite, but the usually hooded huntress did not react. Neo found the scythe wielders attempt to act bold to be amusing. But the petite illusionist was more entertained, as well as impressed, with the way the normally aggressive blondie Neo had gotten to know over the past couple of days. The boxer from the first day of recruitment almost had to be rendered unconscious, like when they fought, but the firecracker Neo witnessed just then was a sight that made her almost feel elated. Although the lilac eyed huntress wasn't broken, she was at least being obedient. _Probably utilizing the safest option for both her and her precious little sister._ Yang's willing compliance was almost equally pleasing to the multi-haired girl, though Neo would have preferred it if she had bludgeoned the defiance out of the fiery blonde. So it only seemed fit to give the conferment a pat on the head, to let her know she was acting like a good girl. And if that were to set either of them off, Neo supposes she would have no choice but to defend herself.

When Neo placed her hand on Yang's head, the blonde did not attack like she had hoped. Instead Neo was shocked to find her hand feeling as if it were about to catch flames. Wasting no time, the ice cold assassin pulled her hand away and saw a large hole in the palm of her glove. With a noticeable ring singed around it. Not feeling too keen on one of her favorite gloves being ruined, the parasol holding girl moved her gaze to Yang's face. The girl with what Neo knows is a type of flame based semblance looked her in the eyes. Neo's not sure if she intended to or not, but Yang managed to intimidate her. When the two looked at each other, Yang had a seemingly innocent smile on her face. But the blonde's eyes were radiating such a malicious, _killing,_ intent that the little ice cream feared for her life. More importantly, the girl Emerald deemed a bimbo was able to frighten her... while, more or less, gently hugging her baby sister.

Neo felt distraught over Yang, who in their previous encounter didn't land a single strike on her, managed to scare her. But she was also relieved that her face didn't let either of the sisters know of her momentary weakness. And she intends to keep it that way. She would punish the blonde rebel but knew that she couldn't harm either of them unless it were self defense. However, she does have orders to train them... With that thought on her mind, Neo slowly made her return to the back of the room.

"Ruby are you okay, can you stand?" Yang asked as she quickly tried to trail Neo with the little Rose in tow.

"I think so, wh" Ruby asked before her sister abruptly released her.

Like when Ruby first entered, her big sister fell to the ground.

"Yang!?" The girl in black exclaimed as she tried helping her sister up, only to feel a painful surge of electricity flow throughout her body.

Despite the pain, Ruby managed to pull Yang to her feet. Upon doing so, the silver eyed huntress noticed something she hadn't before. Underneath Yang's scarf, which was also looking a little scuffed up itself, was a collar. Oddly enough, the painful electric current subsided almost as soon as Ruby noticed the mysterious collar. Too bad Ruby didn't have a chance to further examine it before she felt something cold snap on to her neck. Surprised by her sudden new accessory, Ruby looked up from a flimsily standing Yang to see Neo holding a scroll in her hand again. This time Neo showed Ruby what was going on with Yang and her scroll. According to Neo's scroll: Whenever Yang (or herself now) are a certain distance away from Neo, they will be shocked. With the amount of volts increasing the greater the distance between them is. Neo can also manually activate the collars, at a preset voltage. And lastly, tampering with the collars will make the collars emit enough volts to render the wearer either unconscious or deceased. The amount of volts for the fail safe being random.

Towards the bottom of the screen was a message, it read "I won't be waiting on either of you when we're on missions, so Cinder says I have to make sure that the two of you can keep up with me."

After Ruby finished reading it, Neo retracted her scroll and pointed to her wrist as if she were wearing a watch. Her way of telling Ruby that she's on the clock now.

Using the hook on her parasols handle, Neo grabbed the still paralysis ridden Yang and began impelling the blonde to maneuver with her. Yang willingly chose to accommodate Neo, grabbing Ruby by her wrist as soon as she was within her reach. Ruby now had a few questions, such as where are they going and what exactly will they be doing. The blonde could tell that her shorter haired sister was puzzled by the look on her face, but she knew she likely as in the dark as Ruby. Yang did however have something to tell Ruby, a warning regarding Neo.

"Don't forget about the collars sis, **she** loves getting you shocked. _I figured that out on day one._ " Yang said as Neo shot her an instigating leer.

With her, underhanded, plan to get Ruby shocked foiled by Yang, Neo saw no reason to help the blonde avoid being a conductor and released the brawler. She then started to walk at a quicker pace, hoping to create a large enough gap between the two sisters and herself that the collars would activate before their training starts. _Although she knew that even if the space where she's been sparring with Yang was farther away, the two of them would surely be able to keep up with her if she walks._ She was right. The two students followed Neo around the corner and found the keeper of their shock buttons standing in the center of the semi walled off extension of the room, where training dummies were once stored, now serving as a room Neo primarily used for combat training. And it was time for Yang's next, as well as Ruby's first, session...

"Uh Yang, what's she doing?" The darkest haired girl in the room asked as she turned to her golden haired sister.

When she turned, she found Yang in a fighting stance.

"Training. _You sit this one out._ " Yang said, keeping her fists up and her sight on Neo.

Ruby was about to speak when, to her surprise, another Neo appeared and stood in her face. She was deliberately obscuring Ruby's view and performed a shushing motion while she was doing it.

With a grunt Yang charged towards the girl who stood shorter in stature. The multi-haired girl simply grinned as the blonde took a few more steps before lunging at her, eager to finally make the boxer scream. Neo easily dodged Yang's first punch, mocking her by pivoting around the boxers arm. Neo, with her back to Yangs, threw out her right elbow, aiming for the back of the taller girls blonde head. Yang avoided Neo's counter by moving her head. However Yang was too focused on the ice cream girls elbow to see Neo kick her foot back, causing her stiletto boot to dig into the lilac eyed girls calf. Though her aura prevented her calf from being cut open, the strike was enough to force Yang to a kneeling position. With the firecracker partially on the ground, Neo applied a headlock with her parasol. Remembering their past encounters Yang grabbed the umbrella and, with all her strength, pulled it at a downward angle before Neo could build any momentum and send her careening into a wall or ceiling. Neo was not expecting Yang to use her raw strength as she bent her body forward, causing Neo to be sent flying instead. However the multicolored girl simply used her acrobatic skills to land on her feet and blocked Yangs, predictable, follow up punch.

Having fought her before, Yang knew Neo would be able to block or dodge every one of her punches with ease. So Yang decided to try something she hadn't done before, she grabbed the middle of the umbrella and pulled Neo towards her. Once again, the short girl was caught off guard by Yang's actions and could only brace herself for the blondes next attack... a headbutt that could've shattered a brick wall. The brawler herself was shocked by what happened next: Neo shattered, revealing that Yang was fighting a fake the entire time. Alarmed by this revelation, Yang quickly turned around and met with a flying roundhouse to the head. Yang's hands blocked most of Neo's foot, but part of the stiletto bearers foot still managed to connect with her forehead. Neo's kick pushed Yang hard enough that her back was against the wall. With Yang having no space to back up, Neo fired a few rounds of her parasol at the cornered girl. Yang blocked Neo's volley of shots, using her Ember Celicas and returned the ice cream girls bullets with a few of her own. The pink and brown haired girl opened her parasol and not one of Yangs' shots made it past the umbrella and to its holder. Yang leaped into the air and brought her right fist down in the form of a strong punch. Yangs fist was as ineffective as her shells. With this opening, Neo thrusted her parasol into Yang (wishing she could've just ended the blonde with her hidden blade) and followed it up with a crane kick to the disoriented boxer. The kick caused Yang to twirl around as she fell to the ground, she quickly returned to her feet however. Neo taunted Yang by opening her parasol over her shoulder, causing the now red eyed girl to slam her fists together and flames to erupt from her body. The fiery shockwave made Neo shield her eyes, but Yang didn't attempt a sneak attack. Yang, with flames seeming to dance on her, charged towards Neo. Yang was already quick, but now her semblance was empowering her body; making her stronger and faster.

With this speed boost Yang was now faster, and able to hit a lot harder, than any of her shells could. Because of this Neo decided to create multiple duplicates, about three. The four Neos spread out, forcing Yang to concentrate on the nearest. This Neo shot at Yang, but Yang actually punched her shot back at her. The reflected shot caused this first Neo to shatter, leaving only three more. The next Neo jumped into the air and used her umbrella to stay airborne. Yang had her fist cocked and was about to fire at the slowly descending Neo when she heard another weapon being fired. She quickly rolled out of the way of the third Neo's blast-zone and narrowly avoided the previous Neo's dive kick. While Yang had her attention divided on the two Neos, the last Neo grabbed her right arm from behind. Before Yang could process where this Neo came from, another of the three Neos grabbed her left arm. As the only other Neo leaped to deliver another devastating kick, Yang fired repeated shots from both her Ember Celicas. This not only caused the Neos to loose their footing, but for Yang to regain some speed. Yang gripped both Neo's wrists, ensuring that they wouldn't be able to escape, and jumped towards the other Neo. The descending Neo, intrigued to see what Yang has in store waited instead of bringing her heel down like she originally intended. Yang swung both her arms forward and released the two Neos, sending them hurling towards the third. Seeing no way for at least the two Neos to avoid another attack, the brawler sent a semblance-boosted shell soaring towards them. Her intent to nail all three.

If Yang tried this on someone with less skill or experience the three of them might've collided and taken the blast, but this was Neo she was fighting. One of the Neos Yang threw pushed the other downward and used her parasol to elevate the top one. To Yang's dismay, only one of the Neos were shot down. It shattered, meaning Yang still had yet to actually land a real hit on the true Neo. At this point Yang was mostly running on adrenaline, and the remaining Neos could tell by Yang's panting. Knowing that now all they have to do is wait, the boxers both her adversaries grinned. Refusing to go down without landing a single blow on the real one, the firecracker sprinted towards the one she threw a moment ago. Yang knew she was out of options and at her limit and in truth was just hoping for this one to be the real Neo. Her fist ready to punch through Neo, duplicate or otherwise. The Neo didn't even budge when the feisty girl was just outside her fiery arms reach. Before Yang's arm could extend, she experienced the painful stinging sensation of a well placed shot hitting her square in the back. With the overlapping strain from her aura, semblance, and her refusal to catch her breath, Yang's body finally gave way to the other Neo's sneak attack. As she fell to the ground, Yang heard two things: her scroll ringing and the sound of her sister shouting her name.

 **Author's Notes**

The reason for Yang's less refined fighting in this is due to her anger and hatred getting the better of her, along with some other things I'll go into detail with in the next chapter. One thing I will elaborate on is why Ruby was so quiet during the fight, although the truth is I was too busy trying to make to keep the flow of the fight. But I did mean for Ruby to cheer Yang on, but this chapter is almost 3k words. So I'll just do a Ruby perspective in the next one.


	4. Chapter 4

Ruby was about to speak when, to her surprise, another Neo appeared and stood in her face. She was deliberately obscuring Ruby's view and performed a shushing motion while she was doing it.

This Neo's sudden appearance startled Ruby and the way she was blocking her sight of her sister peeved her off. When Ruby was about to say something to the seemingly mute girl, Neo aggressively began moving the hood enthusiast so her back would be on the wall. Putting her finger on Ruby's lips, after removing it from her own, in a hushed motion. With Ruby in a corner, more or less, Neo ceased her shoving and, with her other hand keeping the dark haired girl quiet, began typing a message for the would be huntress on her scroll. All Ruby could hear as she waited was the sound of buttons clicking, and glass shattering.

 **No talking. Put out your hand and type whatever on the scroll I'm about to hand you.**

Ruby stared at Neo for a moment, not even remotely trying to hide her ill will towards the pushy girl, but put out her hand for the scroll. Ruby was expecting to be handed the same scroll that Neo was using but, strangely enough to Ruby, the silent girl instead gave her a different scroll.

Seeing that moment of confusion, thanks to her highly trained eyes, Neopolitan began typing down another message with her free hand.

 **You didn't really expect me to just give you my scroll, the same scroll that can activate or deactivate your' collars, did you?**

Ruby, not as quickly as Neo, began to type a message on her scroll.

 **Why did you bring me here?**

Neo closed her eyes for a solid two seconds, as if she were agitated, and effortlessly started typing an answer without looking at her scroll. The goading gaze she had before had changed to one of malice, and it was focused on Ruby. After a more than a minute of focusing all her attention on the girl before her, Neo brought her scroll up for the silver eyed girl to read.

 **The blonde, I believe you called her "Yang," needs as few distractions while I train her as possible. I've fought her before you arrived and she's never gotten my aura below the 95% mark. Her technique gets worse when she lets her anger take control and her precision sometimes dips because of it. Her stance needs work, more specifically her footing. She has a bad habit of taking unnecessary risks that hinder her more than help, even if they did work. She utilizes her semblance poorly and refuses to focus, likely because she lacks interest in my training with her. So the last thing I need is for her to check on you while we fight or for you to potentially get caught in the crossfire. Especially since while Cinder told me not to hurt you, I won't bat an eye if you get hit by a stray shot. It would be your own fault for not paying attention to your surroundings while you're hurt.**

Ruby was about to protest but caught herself before she spoke, and possibly brought about the wrath of Neo upon herself. With her voice in check, Ruby shifted her attention to her scroll to reply.

 **Why don't you let me talk to her then? I'm sure she'll listen to me.**

Neo had a response on her scroll in less than ten seconds, amazing Ruby with how quickly she wrote her lengthy answer.

 **You have no experience with hand to hand combat, so you won't know how to help her improve. For what I have planned I need her to be a warrior, not just a huntress. Normally making one with a semblance and heritage like hers would be easy, even if she wants to be difficult. But with Cinder's orders I can't beat the defiance out of her or be too rough with her during training and orders are orders.**

Ruby was about to write Neo another message when the latter's scroll began to ring. After hearing her scroll, Neo released Ruby and began walking back to where Yang was. Recognizing this as Neo permitting her to return, Ruby began to hurry back. Unfortunately she still hadn't recovered enough to use her semblance. When she got back, she saw a tired Yang charging towards a Neo in front of her while another stood behind her.

Yang's fist was ready to punch through Neo, regardless of if it was a duplicate or otherwise. The Neo didn't even budge when the feisty girl was just outside her fiery arms reach. Before Yang's arm could extend, she was shot square in the back by the Neo behind her. Ruby could tell Yang had over exerted her body and judging by the way she reacted to the Neo's sneak attack, she definitely continued fighting with almost no aura.

"Yang!" Ruby screamed as she ran across the room to make sure her sister, who fell to the ground, wasn't badly injured.

Ruby began examining Yang to determine just how severe her injuries were. But to the black combat-skirted girls surprise, her sisters body had minimal damage. This puzzled Ruby, but she didn't get to give it much thought before the scroll Neo gave her went off. It was a message from Neo.

 **She needs more work than I thought. All I really did was let her tire herself out while I chipped away at her aura. I'm actually disappointed seeing as how she IS the same girl who beat Mercury.**

"Is that all you can think of?!" Ruby snapped, the sight of her sister unconscious pushing her over the top.

Neo's sadistic smirk returned in full force, Ruby could've sworn that she saw a glimmer radiate off the ice cream themed girl. Neo carried herself with a taunting strut to slowly close the gap between her and the two sisters. But Ruby didn't care. Ruby stood her ground, though in actuality she was still crouching with Yang in her arms. Neo continued her strut until she was around 10 feet from Ruby, then she just stopped and her smirk changed to a grin. One similar to that of a predator once it's started to play with it's prey and told Ruby that Neo knows something she doesn't. Hardly able to contain herself, Neo eagerly pointed towards Yang. Ruby didn't want to take her eyes off Neo, but had to avert her gaze to make sure her sister was okay. When she shifted her eyes to the girl in her arms, Ruby didn't see the blonde hair of her sister. But instead the brown and pink hair of the very girl she had just taken her eyes off of.

Startled by this, Ruby quickly dropped the Neo in her hands. However this Neo faded into light before it could hit the ground. After her eyes got over the brief flash of light, Ruby felt her scroll buzz again and quickly gave it her undivided attention. Figuring Neo had something to so and that she could've already attacked her if she really wanted.

 **It's your turn.**

Upon reading this Ruby, expecting a sneak attack, tried taking up a defensive stance. One that she had seen Yang and her dad take countless times. Even though the tightening of her muscles the stance caused made her body ache and scream out in pain.

Neo took two steps forward before raising her scroll up to her face, confusing Ruby. Ruby thought that this was a ruse, but to her surprise Neo's scroll emitted the unmistakable sound of one taking a picture. Which was followed soon after by Ruby's own scroll going off. Still expecting an underhanded sneak attack, Ruby ignored her scroll. Instead opting to kept her focus on the ice cream themed girl, who -just like the previous one- disappeared with the accompanying sound of glass shattering.

Ruby, fearing for an attack from behind quickly turned her body around and hoped her body had recovered enough aura to protect her from at least one strike. One that never came, instead of an attack Ruby found Neo -still looking amused- dangling the scroll Ruby thought she had in her pocket in front of her face. Neo clearly wanted her to read it.

 **I've seen enough already, we're done here. We'll have to start after you've healed.**

Ruby was about to interject, but took notice of a second message that her scroll received. It was a picture of her when she was in her defensive stance. In the background of the picture; just behind her was another Neo, one who was holding a blade to the side of her neck.

The weapons nerd in Ruby couldn't help but try and determine what kind of bladed weapon the Neo was holding, judging by the angle she could see Ruby was able to narrow it down to three plausible choices: either a longer than average misericord, a swordstick, or a shikomizue. This was something Ruby thought was necessary to think of for when she and Yang try to make their escape, determining Neo's preferred weapon could help Ruby figure out the best strategy for beating her. If it was just an extended misericord then that would mean it's primarily used for poking and eventually puncturing enemies, the thought of which made Ruby feel uncomfortable. If it was a swordstick then that would mean that there was a larger variety of possible uses, this versatility made Ruby feel like this was the most likely candidate, and the more uses Ruby thought of the more frightened she became at the thought of how Neo could use it. The last choice: a shikomizue was in it's essence a sword modeled after either a katana or a rapier that, like a swordstick, is thin enough to fit in a sheath disguised as an everyday object. If it was either of the second or third option, this complicated things due to the fact that Ruby recalled seeing her using a parasol in their first encounter with her. But Neo also demonstrated to Ruby that she is very knowledgeable with hand-to-hand combat as well. This has made Ruby wonder, can she (and Yang) beat Neo? Yang apparently hasn't been able to on her own, and Neo made sure to let her know that she had more than three different chances to kill her already. Neo might just be more dangerous than any White Fang or Grimm...

Neo gestured for Ruby to follow, Ruby listened. Not having any options, the huntress in training followed the dangerous girl as she went out the door Mercury had brought her through earlier.

Author's Notes 

Neo is going to have a large role, so I hope I can continue to make her seem like a combination of dangerous and somewhat sassy. I intend for her to be reluctant as possible with anything that doesn't pertain to her goals, interests, or tasks at hand. Basically she lives to torment Yang while she trains her, and now Ruby, because riling Yang up is more fun for her than the training itself. I plan to do a new RWBY story, but I won't cease my writing for this story. Besides, we haven't even found out what Weiss and Blake are doing, or Neo's training Ruby and Yang for yet.


End file.
